Quote:

---

... pay attention to the Myths section because a lot of what you are claiming is in there, including the IMF part which had nothing to do with the agreement.

---

Quote:

---

At the time President Yanukovych was also in negotiations with Russia to "find the right model" for cooperation with the Customs Union of Belarus, Kazakhstan and Russia. But also on 25 February 2013 President of the European Commission José Manuel Barroso made it clear that "one country cannot at the same time be a member of a customs union and be in a deep common free-trade area with the European Union".

---

Quote:

---

ARTICLE 453
Ukraine shall benefit from financial assistance through the relevant EU funding mechanisms and instruments. Such financial assistance will contribute to achieving the objectives of this Agreement and will be provided in accordance with the following Articles of this Agreement.

ARTICLE 455
The priority areas of the EU financial assistance agreed by the Parties shall be laid down in relevant indicative programmes reflecting agreed policy priorities. The indicative amounts of assistance established in these indicative programmes shall take into account Ukraine's needs, sector capacities and progress with reforms

ARTICLE 456
In order to make the best use of the resources available, the Parties shall endeavour to have EU assistance implemented in close cooperation and coordination with other donor countries, donor organisations and international financial institutions, and in line with international principles of aid effectiveness.

---

Quote:

---

“For months, the International Monetary Fund has refused to sign off on a nearly $15 billion dollar bailout loan that Ukraine needs by March to refinance its external debt. The IMF wants Ukraine to accept harsh conditions including raising domestic gas prices, and imposing strict budgetary austerity. These conditions could also lead to more political upheaval.”

---

Quote:

---

The Treaty calls for a “political dialogue” to promote “convergence on foreign and security matters with the aim of Ukraine’s ever deeper involvement into the European security area (and) strengthen cooperation and dialogue between the Parties on international security and crisis management, notably in order to address global (!) and regional challenges and key threats” (Article 4, Sec. 1, Sec. 2(c)).

This political military dialogue is coordinated at various levels in several structures:

The EU’s Political and Security Committee (which coordinates both (1) the EU Military Committee, where the Defense Ministers coordinate operations, as well as (2) the Political Military Group) (Article 5 Sec. 3 (a))

“all diplomatic and military channels between the Parties, including appropriate contacts in third countries (United States) and within the United Nations, the OSCE, and other international fora (ie, NATO)” (Article 5 Sec. 3 (b). “Cooperation…shall aim at increasing policy convergence and effectiveness, and promoting joint policy planning. To this end, the Parties shall make use of bilateral (ie, including US-Ukrainian), international (ie NATO) and regional fora” (Article 7, Sec. 1)

And “regular meetings both at the level of high officials and of experts of the military institutions of the Parties,” (Article 5, Sec. 3(c));

And the European Defense Agency (Article 10 Sec. 3) which reports to the European Commission.

The Treaty calls for “increased participation of Ukraine in EU-led “civilian and military crisis management operations as well as relevant exercises and training” (Article 10, Sec. 1). Article 10, Section 3 specifically mandates the kind of military technological cooperation necessary for the degree of interoperability critical for unified command and control and combat efficiency; anticipating that Ukraine would sign onto this agreement, on June 24, 2013 the EU-Ukraine Cooperation Council which was established to implement the agreement published the “EU-Ukraine Association Agenda to prepare and facilitate the implementation of the Association Agreement” including: “increase interoperability where appropriate between Ukrainian peacekeeping units and EU Member States forces through lessons learned from relevant EU crisis management operations to which Ukraine participated, and through involvement of the units of the Armed Forces of Ukraine into the formation of EU Multinational Tactical Battle groups.”

---

Quote:

---

[Foreign minister] Paet said that Ukraine needs the political and economic support of the European Union and NATO to quickly move forward towards European integration. "The first step will be the signing this week of the political chapters of the EU-Ukraine Comprehensive Free Trade Area (DCFTA) Association Agreement at the meeting of the EU Heads of State or Government, the foreign minister said. Paet also considers it important to remove customs duties on Ukrainian exports to the European Union.

---

Quote:

---

Paet also emphasized the importance of continued and visible support for the reform efforts of Ukraine, Moldova and Georgia. "The cooperation and tightening of the relationship between the European Union and its Eastern Partners is very important in the current situation in order to alleviate the security crisis and to add a sense of confidence to all of Europe," he said. "The European Union Association and Free Trade Agreements with Georgia and Moldova must be concluded soon," he added.

---

Quote:

---

it's OK for the USA to have enough nuclear weapons to slag the world three times over, but not OK for Iran. Because we're the reasonable ones (although we're the only nation that used nuclear weapons on a population).

---

Quote:

---

Ukraine is bound to accept loans only through EU funding mechanisms (ECB, IMF) and tied to internal economic reforms.

---

Quote:

---

Of the two, Iran and the US, the US isn't the one who has openly called for the destruction of another country, and for it to be wiped off the face of the Earth.

---

Quote:

---

He said: “I just got this memo from the Secretary of Defense’s office. It says we’re going to attack and destroy the governments in 7 countries in five years – we’re going to start with Iraq, and then we’re going to move to Syria, Lebanon, Libya, Somalia, Sudan and Iran.”

---

Quote:

---

Each case is different.

---

Quote:

---

In Afghanistan we very well could have had lasting change and a stable government however we took our focus away from there and put in on Iraq.

The Iraq war was ill conceived. Colin Powell warned the Bush administration that if we went into Iraq we would have to own it. Powell understood that you were not going to get people in that country to come together to form a stable government. The administration at the time did not agree.

Libya we did accomplish the first goal, help the revolution get rid of the current government. We hoped that they could then come together and form something stable with us letting them do it without much interjection, unlike Afghanistan and Iraq. It has not worked. It was a different strategy.

Egypt, well that has worked in our favor. The Egyptian military whom now controls the country is much more friendly to us than the previous government.

Syria has it's own complications because of ties to Russia.

So it has not been the same strategy that has not worked, each case was different.

---

Quote:

---

Originally posted by 1kiki:
So, I was telling some coworkers about you and your posts. They listened and two of them said simultaneously 'oh he's a troll' shrugged and went back to what it was they were doing. Like - whyever would anyone even both with that?

Why indeed.

---

Quote:

---

Originally posted by SIGNYM:
Yes, because EVERY country with a "kill list" of countries is going to publicly declare open-season!

Sheesh.

---

Quote:

---

Troll indeed!

However, it did interest me to post about the topic, because I had heard several quotes from Wolfowitz along those lines, describing the Bush Administration's list of targets. So, good on the troll for bringing up an important point.

---

Quote:

---

Iran announced missile tests on Sunday and threatened to wipe Israel "off the face of the earth" if the Jewish state attacked it, brandishing some of its starkest threats on the day Europe began enforcing an oil embargo and harsh new sanctions....

The threat against the Jewish state echoed words President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad spoke in 2005, saying Israel "must be wiped off the page of time" — a phrase often translated as "wiped off the map" and cited by Israel to show how allowing Iran to get nuclear arms would be a threat to its existence.

---

Quote:

---

The "wiped off the map" translation originated from the state-controlled Islamic Republic News Agency.[81] This translation's use in the media has been criticized.[82] Arash Norouzi, artist and co-founder of The Mossadegh Project, says the statement "wiped off the map" did not exist in the original speech and that Ahmadinejad directed his comment toward the "regime occupying Jerusalem". Norouzi's translation of the Persian quote reads; "the Imam said this regime occupying Jerusalem must vanish from the page of time."[83] Juan Cole, historian of the Middle East and South Asia, concurs; Ahmadinejad's statement should be translated as, "the Imam said that this regime occupying Jerusalem (een rezhim-e eshghalgar-e qods) must [vanish from] the page of time (bayad az safheh-ye ruzgar mahv shavad)," noting that there is no Persian idiom to wipe something off the map.[84] Shiraz Dossa, a professor of Political Science at St. Francis Xavier University in Nova Scotia, Canada, also believes the text is a mistranslation.[85]
“ Ahmadinejad was quoting the Ayatollah Khomeini in the specific speech under discussion: what he said was that "the occupation regime over Jerusalem should vanish from the page of time." No state action is envisaged in this lament; it denotes a spiritual wish, whereas the erroneous translation – "wipe Israel off the map" – suggests a military threat. There is a huge chasm between the correct and the incorrect translations. The notion that Iran can "wipe out" U.S.-backed, nuclear-armed Israel is ludicrous.[86][87][88]

---

Quote:

---

President Barack Obama, Chancellor Angela Merkel, Prime Minister David Cameron, President François Hollande, NATO Secretary General Anders Fogh Rasmussen and many others have publicly stated their belief that Russian forces are behind the events in Ukraine. I would like to provide some observations from our analytical experts to help explain why I strongly agree with these world leaders.

* The pro-Russian "activists” in eastern Ukraine exhibit tell-tale military training and equipment and work together in a way that is consistent with troops who are part of a long-standing unit, not spontaneously stood up from a local militia.
* The weapon handling discipline and professional behavior of these forces is consistent with a trained military force. Rifle muzzles are pointed down, fingers not on triggers, but rather laid across trigger mechanisms.
*Coordinated use of tear gas and stun grenades against targeted buildings indicates a level of training that exceeds a recently formed militia.
*Video of these forces at checkpoints shows they are attentive, on their feet, focused on their security tasks, and under control of an apparent leader. This contrasts with typical militia or mob checkpoints, where it’s common to see people sitting, smoking, and so forth.
* The way these forces target government buildings, hit them in coordinated strikes and quickly secure the surrounding area with roadblocks and barricades is similar to what we’ve seen in Crimea. Again, indicative of a professional military force, acting under direction and leadership, not a spontaneous militia.
* Finally, the weapons and equipment they carry are primarily Russian army issue. This is not the kind of equipment that civilians would be likely to be able to get their hands on in large numbers.

Any one of the points above taken alone would not be enough to come to a conclusion on this issue, but taken in the aggregate, the story is clear.

---

Quote:

---

You will NEVER see this on mainstream western media,

---